Will the Boston Red Sox come out swinging against the Houston Astros?
The return of J.D. Martinez to the Red Sox lineup might help them do just that Tuesday night at Fenway Park when Boston opens a three-game series against Houston. Martinez missed the previous three games due to a wrist injury, but he now is back with hopes of shining in his customary designated hitter role.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora has tweaked Boston's batting order. While second baseman Christian Arroyo remains the leadoff hitter, Rafael Devers returns to third base (from DH) and moves up to the second spot (from the fourth). Xander Bogaerts bats third, and Martinez follows the shortstop as the cleanup hitter.
The rest of the batting order remains as it was Monday in Boston's win over the Miami Marlins.
Cora also made some positional changes, as Marwin Gonzalez moves to left field from third base. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe and center fielder Kiké Hernández round out Boston's outfield. Alex Verdugo will start the game on the bench.
MartÃn Pérez starts on the mound for the Red Sox. Kevin Plawecki is the catcher.
Left-handeder Framber Valdez starts for Houston.
Here are the lineups for Tuesday's Red Sox-Astros game.
RED SOX (37-23)
Christian Arroyo, 2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
J.D. Martinez, DH
Hunter Renfroe, RF
Marwin Gonzalez, LF
Kevin Plawecki, C
Kiké Hernández, CF
Bobby Dalbec, 1B
MartÃn Pérez, LHP (4-2, 3.09 ERA)
ASTROS (33-26)
Jose Altuve, 2B
Carlos Correa, SS
Alex Bregman, 3B
Yordan Alvarez, DH
Yuli Gurriel, 1B
Michael Brantley, LF
Kyle Tucker, RF
Martin Maldonado, C
Myles Straw, CF
Framber Valdez, LHP (1-0, 1.64 ERA)
